Can I get some help identifying this insect that has infested?

[ForTheArborist]

What kind of insect is this, and what kind of tree is this? It is killing off a lot of limbs which had me dead wooding for several hours on a few of these trees. Needless to say these trees with infestations look nothing like the same species that don't.

The science here is interesting to me for money or for no money. As a matter of fact, I don't charge customers for diagnoses - not until I have a CA.

I finally found the thrips that wreck Myoporeum trees. I was snoogered to find they are only as big as the very tip of an eye lash. And here I was looking for something 1/4 inch or bigger. What ever is on the leaves in the photos below is only as big as the thrips. These are yellow, and they are too small to pick up in the photo except for those yellow eggs. I saw a small, rubber edge/handle magnifying glass in Auto Zone right after leaving this property. Next time I'll shoot photos through the magnifying glass.

 

[ropensaddle]

My guess is sycamore and lace bug!

 

[ForTheArborist]

Based on that tip I found the only thing resembling the lace bug was the lantana lace bug. It's tiny and yellow like what I have, but the lantanas are described as an 1/8". Also these trees kind of don't match up with any sycamores.

I'll probably have to run this by a nursery or college horticulture professor.

Thanks RNS

 

[LarryTheCableGuy]

If it's not a sycamore then it's probably a Platanus...





.

 

[ForTheArborist]

I'm looking that one up too, and it looks like their leaves are waxy. These leaves are not waxy. They're soft with a fuzz underneath them. That's what that cruddy looking stuff is on the bottoms of those leaves in my pics. The bugs have messed them up, so the fuzz kind of balls up.

I need to know this stuff yesterday. I suppose I should go hound the folks in the garden dept. at Home Depot.

Thanks LCG

 

[Tree Pig]

sure looks like a sycamore that fuz is normal too, apparently the tree is in puberty. No idea on the mite but whats the weather been like. Hard to tell from them pics but may be some small signs of anthracnose which could explain limb lose.

http://www.ipm.iastate.edu/ipm/hortnews/node/204

Some leaves are exceptionally hairy (or "pubescent"). Sycamore leaves are especially noteworthy for the dense down they have on their undersides. Clients sometimes wonder if the dense white coating is powdery mildew, but it is perfectly normal and healthy.

 

[ForTheArborist]

Na, they lose all of there leaves as soon as they can grow them, so the limbs keel. I'm going to get a better photo with the magnifying glass in a few minutes here. Those are eggs and a tiny yellow insects all over the bottoms of those leaves, but the zoom on the cam is fine enough to pick them up without the aid of a magnifying glass.

 

[Toddppm]

I need to know this stuff yesterday. I suppose I should go hound the folks in the garden dept. at Home Depot.

Thanks LCG

That's exactly where you should go. Too bad they don't have an online forum or maybe they do....?:monkey:

 

[jefflovstrom]

Dude, It Is a sycamore!
Jeff- buy a book some time.

 

[Ertreesurgeon]

Is either a sycamore or a plane tree and there practicaly the same thing. At least I have a hard time telling them apart. There all over the place here. They do well in the crowded city. The insect might be an aphid. But that's just a guess

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

the best way I know for telling the two apart is the fruit.

London plane

American Sycamore has one pom-pom, were plane has two per stem.

 

[Ertreesurgeon]

the best way I know for telling the two apart is the fruit.

London plane

American Sycamore has one pom-pom, were plane has two per stem.

U got it. That's what I thought. U just confirmed it. Thank you.

 

[NCTREE]

Could be a sycamoremaple the bark resembles some that we have here in the Charles Evans Cemetary

 

[treemandan]

Dude, It Is a sycamore!
Jeff- buy a book some time.

Dude! Would you just stop arguing with the guy? He said it wasn't a sycamore for crying out loud! If that is not enough to convice you, jeez, I don't know what is.
I am just glad Joe Friday is on the case! And you should be too!

 

[BC WetCoast]

Here is a Bartlett plant health care article on London Planes

http://www.onlinegardener.com/trees/London plane tree.pdf

 

[BC WetCoast]

Na, they lose all of there leaves as soon as they can grow them, so the limbs keel. .

Just because the limb is defoliated by an insect doesn't mean it is dead. Trees and limbs that were defoliated especially by insects can push out new leaves the next year. But you already knew that.

 

[treeseer]

Just because the limb is defoliated by an insect doesn't mean it is dead. Trees and limbs that were defoliated especially by insects can push out new leaves the next year. But you already knew that.

yes scratch the bark first; if it's gren inside put the saw away.

 

[jefflovstrom]

U got it. That's what I thought. U just confirmed it. Thank you.

I am going with Platanus racemosa. FTA, They are everywhere here, how can you not identify this tree. At this time we are seeing alot of Xyllea. It's not killing the trees, but it is opening them up to stress. Dude, I am glad you are not charging for consultations! I told you I have a free Sunset book if you want it. It maybe an Arizona, but I will go with California.
Jeff

 

[jefflovstrom]

Dude! Would you just stop arguing with the guy? He said it wasn't a sycamore for crying out loud! If that is not enough to convice you, jeez, I don't know what is.

Who is arguing? It is to a sycamore!
Jeff

 

[ropensaddle]

Could be a sycamoremaple the bark resembles some that we have here in the Charles Evans Cemetary

Way out of its element and range imo.